The Lambda Literary Foundation is pleased to announce this year’s trio of major award recipients: Augusten Burroughs will receive the Foundation’s Trustee Award, John Irving will receive the Bridge Builder Award, and Cherríe Moraga will receive the Pioneer Award. They will be honored, along with dozens of writers chosen from the list of extensive nominees, at the 25thAnnual Lambda Literary Awards (“Lammys”) ceremony to be hosted by comedienne Kate Clinton on Monday, June 3rd in New York City at The Great Hall at Cooper Union (7 East 7th St @ 3rd Ave, New York City). Immediately following the ceremony will be a private After-Party at The Sky Room of the New Museum (235 Bowery, New York City). The Lammys bring together over 400 attendees, sponsors, and celebrities to celebrate excellence in LGBT literature, making it the most glamorous and prestigious LGBT literary event in the country.

The three outstanding honorees will be featured prominently during the ceremony. Augusten Burroughs has published three essay collections and three memoirs, including Dry, about his experience as an alcoholic trying to get sober in Manhattan, and Running With Scissors, a memoir about his unconventional childhood, which became a publishing phenomenon, remaining at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for nearly three consecutive years. John Irving’s novels, including his 1980 National Book Award winner, The World According to Garp, are translated into thirty-five languages, and he has had ten international bestsellers. In 2000, Irving won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In One Person is John Irving’s latest novel, which is also nominated for a Lammy Award this year. Cherríe Moraga is the co-editor of This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (with the late Gloria Anzaldúa). Her most recent collection of writings, A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness: Writings 2000 – 2010, was published by Duke University Press in 2011. Moraga’s publications and plays have received national recognition, including the United States Artist Rockefeller Fellowship for Literature and American Studies Lifetime Achievement Award. She is an Artist in Residence in the Department of Theater and Performance Studies and the Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity program at Stanford University.

“The works by this year’s special honorees have brought us memorable characters, radical ideas, and have been profoundly influential,” says LLF Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela. “Their contributions are original and leave an enduring mark on our literature.”

Previous Lammy finalist and 2010 Pioneer Award recipient, Kate Clinton, will infuse the gala celebration with her brand of topical, political comedy.

Legendary songwriter, performer, and author Janis Ian, who has 9 Grammy nominations to date, will perform at the ceremony. Ian won a Grammy in 2011 for Best Spoken Word Album. Her songs “At 17” and “Society’s Child” are in the Grammy Hall Of Fame.

What more can be said about the fabulous Honey Dijon. She has rightly taken her place in the music world and one of the most exciting and unique talents today with her innovative and unique sound. She also boasts some impressive accolades from some of the biggest names in dance music from Danny Tenaglia to Derrick Carter.

Based in NYC, born and bred in the Windy City, Honey is known for her unique take on the Chicago sound with inflections of the deep New York underground. In fact, Honey is one of the few dj’s in recent years to defy pigeon-holing. She draws from a wide repertoire of musical styles from old school Chicago House, disco, tech house, tribal, funk, soul, and R& B. She has graced the tables from Ministry of Sound London to Ushuaia Ibiza, Panorama Bar Berlin, Stereo Montreal and everywhere in between. She has also shared the decks with none other Danny Tenaglia, Derrick Carter, Green Velvet, The Martinez Brothers, Satoshi Tomiie, and Quentin Harris.

Honey is also entering one of the most prolific times in her career not only as a DJ, but as a producer as well.

Tony Valenzuela, Executive Director, Lambda Literary Foundation. A graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program of the California Institute of the Arts, Valenzuela is a longtime community activist and writer whose work has focused on LGBT civil rights, sexual liberation and gay men’s health. Read his full bio here and contact him here.